William Temple (bishop)

William Temple (15 October 1881-26 October 1944) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 17 April 1942 to 26 October 1944, succeeding Cosmo Lang and preceding Geoffrey Fisher.

Biography
William Temple was born in Westgate, County Durham, England in 1881, and he was educated at Rugby and Oxford. He taught philosophy at Oxford before being ordained an Anglican priest in 1909. He was a headmaster, and then Bishop of Manchester from 1921 to 1928 and Archbishop of York from 1928 to 1942, before becoming Archbishop of Canterbury in 1942. He was an outstanding theologian and, inspired by his friend R.H. Tawney, he became a leading advocate of the Church of England's responsibility to speak out on social issues. This led to frequent clashes with the government, though it also enlisted his support for the Beveridge Report and, most crucially, for Rab Butler's 1944 Education Act. His concern for social issues was also demonstrated in his concern for adult education, as president of the Workers' Education Association from 1908 to 1924. His preoccupation with ecumenism was influential in the creation of the World Council of Churches.